Name-dropping

The Dish On All Your Favorite Celebs

November 21, 2004|By JOHN PARKYN

Shania Twain values her privacy

I read that Shania Twain is planning to leave Switzerland and move to New Zealand. Isn't America good enough for her?

Twain, the most reclusive of stars, plans to keep her home near the Swiss resort city of Montreux, but in September also purchased a $10 million, 42,000-acre ranch on New Zealand's South Island. She says she plans to spend six months of each year there with her family -- producer-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange and their 3-year-old son, Eja -- commuting to the United States whenever a new album or tour is pending.

Twain emphasizes she has nothing against the United States. "I work hard," says the Canadian-born singer, who recently completed a 10-month world tour, "and when I'm resting I like to be far away from the attentions of the public and paparazzi. There is no way to do this in the U.S., Canada or England because I am so well known. But things are different in Switzerland, and I expect them to be different in New Zealand."

Twain's absence from the Nashville scene has had no ill effects on her career. At 39, she has sold nearly 70 million records, and Shania Twain's Greatest Hits, released Nov. 9, is already climbing the charts.

Doherty says she's `mellowed'

Given her reputation, why would Fox hire hot-tempered Shannen Doherty to beef up its series North Shore?

Apparently the producers believe the former Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed star when she says she has turned over a new leaf. If true, it's not before time: At 33, the tempestuous actress has a track record that includes being fired from 90210 and "let go" from Charmed after reportedly clashing with co-star Alyssa Milano.

Doherty's off-screen behavior has long made her a favorite of the tabloids. As well as a DUI in 2000 and a reported $31,000 in bad checks, she has had two marriages that, even by Hollywood standards, were short-lived. One was in 1993 to George Hamilton's son Ashley, which lasted seven months; and one was in 2002 to Rick Salomon for nine months. Add to this three broken engagements, including a romance with cosmetics heir Dean Factor, who later charged her with trying to run him down in her car. As recently as February, she got into a spat with Tara Reid -- another tabloid favorite -- on Miami's South Beach. "Let's just say I've mellowed," says Doherty.

Mellow or not, the actress faces an interesting situation on the North Shore set. Her co-star on the series is Brooke Burns -- and several years ago, Doherty had a romance with Burns' estranged husband Julian McMahon.

Boy toy's a hunk

What can you tell me about the good-looking young guy who is Eva Longoria's boy toy on Desperate Housewives?

Though he plays 17-year-old gardener John on ABC's hit show, Jesse Metcalfe is actually a mature 25-year-old from Waterford, Conn. After graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, he got off to a quick professional start in 1999 when he was chosen to play Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald on the NBC soap Passions. Desperate Housewives is his first prime-time role, and the actor admits he is concerned about what lies ahead -- "How long can Gabrielle and John keep their affair secret?" But he really doesn't need to worry, as his contract has been extended through the entire first season of the show.

Metcalfe credits his eye-popping physique to a regimen that includes hiking, basketball and a low-carb diet. Of French, Italian and Portuguese heritage, he is single, though he has been dating his former Passions co-star Taylor Anne Mountz. As for gardening -- "To be honest, I don't know anything about it," he says. "My own house has a small yard, so I don't get much practice. I guess my closest connection with grass is playing golf."

Routh a lot like Reeve

Information, please, about the new Superman, Brandon Routh. Is he a worthy successor to Christopher Reeve?

You'll have to wait for an answer to that question for another 18 months, when the first Superman movie in nearly 20 years will arrive in theaters. Not much is known about Routh, though it's already clear that his career bears an uncanny similarity to that of the late Reeve.

Reeve was 25 when he was cast as Superman, and so is Routh. Like Reeve, Routh was chosen over several better known names (Josh Hartnett, Ashton Kutcher and Jude Law were said to be interested), and like Reeve, he started in a soap (Reeve, Love of Life; Routh, One Life to Live). Also like Reeve, he will make his movie debut shortly before appearing in Superman. In Reeve's case it was a brief role in 1978's Gray Lady Down; Routh will be seen next April in a modest thriller, Deadly, which stars That '70s Show's Laura Prepon.